Trion Worlds announces a weekend beta event for Defiance to run from January 18-20 in their upcoming open world MMO first-person shooter. The event, which they call "Advanced Mission Beta 1," will include full access to the tutorial along with the following content: "the expansive terraformed terrain of Mt. Tam, the Waterfront competitive multiplayer map, and the fierce Shadow War open world competitive multiplayer and Arkfall massive co-op boss battles." Those hoping to participate should sign up on the viral Von Bach Industries Website.

Alternately if you already have a Trion account you can sign up via their account management website. Dunno if being a former/current Rift subscriber will give you any preference though.

This game peaked my interest. I enjoy Planetside 2 but constant PVP base capping gameplay gets stale after awhile, some PVE in an MMOFPS will but a nice change of pace. I've played Firefall too and while I enjoyed that game, there wasn't a lot of PVE content and it seemed like the development had shifted to make it more of an esports game which isn't something I'm interested in.